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Reports of an impending US-Russia leadership meeting have been greatly exaggerated, it seems.

Only a few days after President Trump announced he intended to meet Russian President Putin in the Hungarian capital - "in approximately a fortnight" - the summit has been suspended indefinitely.

A preliminary meeting by the two nations' top diplomats has been called off, as well.

"I don't want to have a fruitless discussion," President Trump informed the press at the White House on a recent weekday. "I don't want a pointless effort, so I will observe what transpires."

• Trump says he wished to avoid a 'unproductive session' after arrangement for negotiations with Putin shelved
• Letdown in Kyiv as President Zelensky departs Washington without results

The on-again, off-again meeting is another development in the president's efforts to broker an conclusion to war in the Eastern European nation – a subject of increased attention for the US president after he arranged a ceasefire and hostage release deal in the Palestinian territory.

While making remarks in Egypt last week to celebrate that ceasefire agreement, Trump turned to his lead diplomatic negotiator, with a fresh directive.

"We have to get Russia resolved," he declared.

However, the conditions that aligned to make a Middle East success achievable for the negotiation team may be difficult to replicate in a conflict in Ukraine that has been raging for almost four years.

Reduced Influence

According to the lead negotiator, the key to unlocking a deal was the Israeli government's decision to attack representatives of Hamas in the Gulf state. It was a action that infuriated US partners in the Arab world but provided the president bargaining power to pressure Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu into reaching an agreement.

The US president benefited from a history of supporting the Israeli state since his initial presidency, encompassing his decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, to alter America's position on the lawfulness of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and, more recently, his support for Israeli defense operations against the Islamic Republic.

The US president, in fact, is more popular among the Israeli public than Netanyahu – a position that gave him special sway over the nation's head.

Combine Trump's political and economic ties to influential Arab nations in the area, and he had a abundant diplomatic muscle to secure an deal.

Regarding the conflict in Ukraine, on the other hand, the president has much less leverage. Over the past nine months, he has swung between efforts to strong-arm Putin and then Zelensky, all with minimal visible progress.

The US leader has warned to impose additional penalties on Russia's oil and gas sales and to provide the Ukrainian forces with advanced missile systems. But he has also recognised that such actions could harm the world's financial stability and intensify the conflict.

Meanwhile, the president has publicly berated Zelensky, temporarily cutting off information exchange with Ukraine and suspending weapon deliveries to the nation - only to then retreat in the wake of worried European partners who caution a Ukrainian collapse could destabilise the entire region.

Trump loves to tout his skill to sit down and negotiate agreements, but his face-to-face meetings with both Putin and Zelensky have not appeared to advance the hostilities any closer to a peaceful end.

The Russian president may actually be exploiting Trump's desire for a settlement – and faith in in-person deal-making - as a method of influencing him.

In July, Putin agreed to a summit in Alaska at the time when it seemed probable that Trump would sign off on legislative penalties backed by Senate Republicans. That bill was subsequently put on hold.

Last week, as news emerged that the US administration was seriously contemplating sending long-range missiles and air defense systems to Kyiv, the president of Russia called the US president who then touted the potential summit in Hungary.

The following day, the president welcomed Zelensky at the White House, but departed without agreements after a reportedly tense meeting.

Trump maintained that he was not being played by Putin.

"As you are aware, I've been played all my life by skilled operators, and I emerged successfully," he remarked.

However the Ukrainian leader subsequently made note of the sequence of events.

"Once the matter of long-range mobility became a little further away for Ukraine – for our nation – the Russian side quickly became less interested in diplomacy," he said.

Thus, in a short period, the president has shifted from considering the idea of providing weapons to Ukraine to organizing a meeting in Hungary with Russia's leader and privately urging Zelensky to cede all of Donbas – even territory Russia has been unable to conquer.

He has ultimately settled on calling for a ceasefire along present frontlines – a proposal the Russian government has refused to accept.

During his election campaign last year, the candidate vowed that he could end the conflict in Ukraine in a matter of hours. He has subsequently discarded that commitment, admitting that concluding the hostilities is turning out harder than he anticipated.

It has been a uncommon admission of the limits of his power – and the difficulty of finding a framework for peace when both parties wants, or can afford to, give up the fight.